Category Archives: Cyril Ramaphosa

Cyril Ramaphosa closes G20 summit after US boycott and handover row

Posted on by

South African president bangs gavel after rejecting plan from US, which hosts next meeting, for him to hand over to junior official

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, closed the G20 summit in Johannesburg by banging a gavel, having rejected a US proposal for him to hand over to a relatively junior embassy official for the next summit in Florida in a year’s time.

South Africa presented the two-day event as a triumph for multilateralism but it was marred by a boycott by the US, which has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against white-minority Afrikaners, a claim that has been widely discredited.

Continue reading...

US in talks to attend G20 summit after initial boycott, South Africa says

Posted on by

Cyril Ramaphosa says US has had ‘change of mind’ but does not confirm Trump’s attendance in Johannesburg

The US has changed its mind about attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa’s president has said, without confirming whether Donald Trump, who had said the US would boycott the event, now wanted to come.

Trump has claimed that South Africa racially discriminates against the minority white Afrikaner community, which led the country during the apartheid regime that ended in 1994.

Continue reading...

High-rise, high expectations: is Casablanca’s finance hub a model for African development?

Posted on by

Morocco’s commercial centre has brought investment to the continent – but critics say it masks domestic inequality

For centuries, Casablanca was a significant trading hub for merchants from across the breadth of the Atlantic coast, given its geographical position between Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

These days, Morocco’s economic capital is merging those historical roots with a strong modern commercial identity. One such manifestation is the Casablanca Finance City (CFC) district, whose high-rise buildings stand as a symbol of the city’s dream of being a main gateway for international investment into Africa.

Continue reading...

South Africa’s Ramaphosa expected to take golf stars to Trump meeting

Posted on by

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen reportedly part of delegation as president seeks to reset ties after white ‘genocide’ claims

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to take the golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen with him to meet Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday, as the government attempts to reset relations with the US amid Trump’s accusations that it is fomenting a white “genocide”.

Ramaphosa’s appeal to Trump’s love of golf, with the potential inclusion of Els and Goosen reported by South African local media, is part of his efforts to avoid a public dressing down of the kind Trump gave to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in February.

Continue reading...

Cyril Ramaphosa sets up inquiry into claims of interference with investigation of apartheid-era crimes

Posted on by

Relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence had alleged interference from ‘highest levels of government’

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is setting up an inquiry into whether past ANC governments interfered with the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, amid criticism from the families of victims.

A group of 25 relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence sued the government in January, claiming that interference from “the highest levels of government” blocked investigations into cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Continue reading...

Trump cuts aid to South Africa over ‘racial discrimination’ against Afrikaners

Posted on by

US president also offers asylum to Afrikaners and criticises law that allows land seizures without compensation in some circumstances

The US president, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, accusing the country’s government of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners and offering them asylum in the US.

The order criticised a law signed by the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, last month that allows for land to be expropriated with “nil compensation” in limited circumstances.

Continue reading...

Trump says he will cut off funding to South Africa over land ‘confiscations’

Posted on by

Cyril Ramaphosa’s government ‘treating certain classes of people very badly’, says Trump, calling for investigation

Donald Trump has claimed South Africa is “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly”, announcing he is cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.

The US president’s intervention into one of South Africa’s most divisive issues was rebutted by the country’s government and criticised by groups across its political spectrum.

Continue reading...

Prince William says he wants to carry out duties with a smaller ‘r’ in the ‘royal’

Posted on by

Prince of Wales says he wants to approach engagements differently and to focus on helping people

Prince William has said he wants the monarchy to evolve and for him to carry out his duties with a “smaller r in the royal”.

Speaking at end of a major visit to South Africa where he mixed the informal with traditional elements of the monarchy, the Prince of Wales said he was trying to do things differently.

Continue reading...

South Africa school language law stirs Afrikaans learning debate

Posted on by

The DA party argues Afrikaans education will be harmed, while the ANC says law is necessary to redress inequality

A contentious South African education law has drawn furious condemnation from politicians and campaigners who claim it is putting Afrikaans education under threat while evoking for others an enduring association of the language with white minority rule.

The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act was signed into law on Friday by the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who said he would give dissenting parties in his coalition government three months to suggest alternatives to two sections that give provincial officials the powers to override admission decisions and force schools to teach in more than one of South Africa’s 12 official languages.

Continue reading...

South Africa’s ANC expels ex-president Zuma for leading rival party in election

Posted on by

Jacob Zuma backed MK party, which African National Congress said cost it its parliamentary majority

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has been expelled by the African National Congress after he backed a rival political party that helped cost the ANC its parliamentary majority in recent national elections.

“Former president Jacob Zuma has actively impugned the integrity of the ANC and campaigned to dislodge the ANC from power, while claiming that he had not severed his membership,” the party said in a statement on Monday.

Continue reading...

South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa warns of ‘toxic cleavages’ at inauguration

Posted on by

President is sworn in for second term as head of coalition government after losing parliamentary majority

South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa warned of the dangers of “toxic cleavages” in one of the world’s most unequal countries, after he was inaugurated for a second term as president – this time at the head of a coalition government with his African National Congress party’s biggest rival.

The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in 29 May elections, for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power in 1994 after apartheid, as millions of voters defected to breakaway parties amid chronic unemployment and the declining quality of public services.

Continue reading...

Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected as South Africa’s president

Posted on by

Leader gets second term after winning vote just hours after ANC and Democratic Alliance agreed coalition deal

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has been reelected by lawmakers for a second term, hours after his African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance (DA) agreed to form a coalition, setting aside their rivalry in a historic governance pact.

Ramaphosa won the late Friday vote against Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, winning 283 votes to Malema’s 44.

Continue reading...

South Africa’s ANC strikes coalition deal with free-market DA

Posted on by

Country’s second-largest party agrees to support re-election of Cyril Ramaphosa as president

South Africa’s African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance have agreed to form a coalition in which the former liberation movement and the pro-business party will set aside their rivalry in an historic governance pact.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s centrist preferences ultimately won out over more leftwing factions of the ANC that wanted to strike a deal with breakaway parties that back nationalisation and seizing land from white farmers. The deal was struck amid criticisms that the DA favours the interests of South Africa’s white minority, something it denies.

Continue reading...

Cyril Ramaphosa open to forming South African unity government with rivals

Posted on by

ANC leader and president accepts he will need help of opposition parties to tackle serious problems facing country

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said that his African National Congress (ANC) would seek to form a government of national unity with a broad group of opposition parties.

“The purpose of the government of national unity must be, first and foremost, to tackle the pressing issues that South Africans want to be addressed,” Ramaphosa said late on Thursday after a marathon ANC meeting.

Continue reading...

South Africa’s ANC faces tough decisions after losing majority

Posted on by

Party will have to pick coalition partners and then try to reform itself in response to declining support

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its three-decade electoral majority in devastating fashion. As the former liberation movement faces the task of building a coalition government, it remains to be seen how it will respond to the message sent to it by voters.

The ANC’s vote share collapsed from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2% in last week’s elections, amid chronic unemployment, degraded public services and high rates of violent crime.

Continue reading...

Final results in seismic South Africa election confirm ANC has lost majority

Posted on by

ANC says demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step down is ‘no-go area’ as rival Jacob Zuma stokes fears of violence

Final results from Wednesday’s seismic South Africa elections have confirmed that the African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy, firing the starting gun on unprecedented coalition talks.

The ANC, which led the fight to free South Africa from apartheid, won just 159 seats in the 400-member national assembly on a vote share of just over 40%. High unemployment, power cuts, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure have contributed to a haemorrhaging of support for the former liberation movement.

Continue reading...

South Africa to embark on new political path after ANC loses majority

Posted on by

After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivals

The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election.

The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties.

Continue reading...

South Africa: Zuma’s new party upends election as ANC reels from vote collapse

Posted on by

Ex-president’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party erodes vote share of African National Congress, which has been in power for three decades

South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after the former president Jacob Zuma’s new party upended the country’s elections, contributing to the African National Congress party’s vote share collapsing well below half, with more than two-thirds of voting stations counted.

By late afternoon on Thursday, the ANC, which has governed South Africa with a large majority since Nelson Mandela led it to power 30 years ago after the end of apartheid, had 41.8% of the vote.

Continue reading...

ANC looks set to lose majority in watershed moment for South Africa

Posted on by

Early election count puts African National Congress on 42% of the vote, compared with 57% in final tally in 2019

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party looks set to lose its majority for the first time since it swept to power at the end of apartheid, in a watershed moment for the country, as support for the former liberation movement collapsed below 50% in partial results.

With 31.1% of votes counted by early evening on Thursday, South Africa was on the precipice of an era of national coalition government. The ANC had 42.3% of the vote, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance on 25% and the Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters on 9%.

Continue reading...

‘I just need change’: voters voice discontent as South Africa goes to polls

Posted on by

ANC majority in national election at risk for first time since 1990s as unemployment, corruption and power cuts erode support

In the heart of Soweto, at the president’s home voting station, support for the African National Congress (ANC) was everywhere as South Africa went to the polls, with many voters wearing the party’s bright yellow and speaking of their families’ generational loyalty to the movement that fought to end apartheid.

However, even here, there were voters who had turned against the ANC, as it risked losing its majority in national elections on Wednesday for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power in South Africa’s first fully democratic vote in 1994.

Continue reading...